Rants, Recipes, and Running

Almost 2 weeks later, I am finishing my recap on the weekend my parents visited for my pinning ceremony. The rest of the weekend we got to kick back and relax a little -- and had a great time! Saturday we headed to the east side of Tucson to check out "Colassal Caves Mountain Park". This is something we've known about all 2.5 years we've lived in tucson - but Ryan & I have never checked out it. So history lesson time: Colassal Cave is considered a dormant/dry/"dead" cave. There are visible stalagtites and stalagmites, but they're just not dripping and live - they look more petrified. However, if the ice age were to return, and the area was underwater - this cave would come out of it's dormant stage. It was "discovered" in 1879. However, during the discovery - they found artifacts to prove it had been used for many years prior. They found tribal Indian artifacts such as mortars/bowls and symbols throughout the caves. They also fo...

As I shared with you a few months ago, we have been in "House-Hunter" mode. We had made the decision to wait until January to buy. But we have still been spending countless moments together searching houses on zillow.com, TARMLS (the Tucson listings), etc...... We have spent many moments playing with our grand budget to make sure everything fits perfect. Well, Ryan plays with the numbers - I watch and ask him to explain it to me. Again, and again. I really wish I would've taken like...an accounting class or something? Or listened to my Mom when she tried teaching me back in the day Well, we were driving around our "desired neighborhood" on Friday and stumbled upon Model homes for a new development. Everything about this community is perfect (for our standards). Incredible mountain views, the houses are exactly what we want, and things just feel "right". We can't get excited yet... .....Because we still have the paper work to go through. ...

So as I left you in the last post, we made it to the pinning ceremony in one piece! (Thank you, Dad) The whole tradition of the pinning ceremony for nurses started back in the days of Florence Nightengale. Back then a student nurse received a different pin for every "level" of nursing school. The pin would allow doctors and other nurses to look at the students and know what they are capable of doing with what pin they have. They don't do that anymore. But all nursing schools have a "Pinning Ceremony". The student chooses a person who was influencial and supportive in their endeavors through their nursing education, and that person gets the honor of placing their BSN pin on them. I chose my Mom! Nurse Marlys. Now this pinning ceremony is talked up from the 1st day of nursing school. So it's something I've been living for. But I'm going to be honest with you. It was what it was cracked up to be. Now it was a very special and meaningful cere...

So I was going to do a nice little recap post on the "Pinning Weekend" and talk about all the great things that happened. But it was such a wonderful weekend....that I decided this needs to be broken up into multiple posts, so I don't blog a novel. So here's Post #1: But let me just start by proclaiming a fact. My life is never calm. Nothing ever just "goes smoothly". I feel like I never can explain an event (that I was in control of) by saying "It went real nice. Everything was just smooth". Without having some chaotic story attached to it. My sister Lisa and I share this quality. We could write a book about our strange/bizarre/chaotic happenings in life. If you already know me - this isn't a surprise. If you only know me through my blog - you have probably figured this out by now. So here it goes. Pinning Day: Friday morning. What a wonderful morning it was. I got up with Ryan at 5:30 to send him off to work with a packed ...

This week's 10 on Tuesday is a little different - it's photos of your living space! Here it goes! 1. Your house. 2. Your shower 3. The inside of your refridgerator   4. Your pet. I don't do pets. In fact, I'm sorry but I don't like animals. If you're going to go ahead and get offended - please, don't. It's better this way. If I had a pet, I'd leave it out on the 110 degree heat, unfed, and it would probably die. I'm just being honest..... I like people better. 5. Your favorite pair of shoes. 6. The most comfortable seat in your house. I'm just going to be honest. The bed is the most comfortable. If I'm sick - the only place that will serve me well is this bed. 7. Your favorite cup or coffee mug. 8. Your laundry room. My laundry room is in the garage. Kinda...interesting. And will not let this happen when we purchase a house. Please ignore the mess on top of the laundry machine. This is what happens when you don'...

In preparation fior my MOm & Dad's visit and in celebration of being DONE with nursing school....I have rekindled with one of my FAVORITE past times ever! Baking. ...(not decorating, as we learned from my birthday cake post)..Haha! Not having to study...I have been enjoying my life a little. And here are a few of the things I've been brewing up (and a few recipes attached).... Sunday I made a pot roast with homemade Herb-crusted bread . The roast slow cooked all day with potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. The bread was a basic white yeast bread with thyme, rosemary, and oregano in it. Heaven. Yesterday, I baked cookies for my husband. Which I haven't done in awhile. Just your good ole, hearty, Betty-Crocker-cookbook style. Today I did some backing in prep for the weekend and here are the recipes I will share. Rubarb-Blueberry Muffins 1 cup rhubarb (frozen or fresh), chopped 1 cup blueberries 1/4 cup butter, soft 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup Fat Free Sou...

Tomorrow the woman who inspired me to be a nurse will pin me with my BSN pin. My Mom, Marlys. She once was a nurse, before my Dad bought a business - and she now is office-manager-extraordinaire. (She pretty much runs the place ;) ) Even though I never knew her as a nurse, that's what I think of her as! Probably due to her nurturing qualities! It does not feel real to me that I'm done with college! If fact, I've been kind of "glum" all week. I've felt like kind of a failure. I always envisioned graduating from college with a job in my hands promising a great career. And I don't. My sponsoring hospital hasn't given me any word yet. And I'm basically worthless until I get my RN license. But, I've had a change of heart - and really need to kick the negativity out the door. This is one of these horrid siutations in life where I can't control everything . All I can do now is pass my NCLEX exam, get my license, and apply like crazy and...